Penguins Encore

Wineglass Bay - picture it red

Today won the gold medal for wildlife viewing. We are at Freycinet National Park near Cole’s Bay on the east coast of “Tassy”. The park is a wonder with a trail to a  lookout  that affords stunning views over the famous Wineglass Bay. We hiked up for the view, then down a steep trail to the white sandy beach. Though the information plaque professes uncertainty about the origin of the name, we read somewhere that the beach is in the shape of a wineglass and in the past was stained red with the blood of slaughtered whales when this was a whaling station. Whaling beaches seem to be a recurring theme on this Australian trip. Fortunately those days are over, and the water was various shades of aquamarine sparkling in the sun.

Mum with her Joey

Upon arriving at the crystalline beach, we were met by a young boy scout of about ten who excitedly told us that if we ate lunch on the nearby rocks we would see wallabies. He had a male stand on his toes and young joey sniff his fingers!  As if on cue, a wallaby bounded in front of us with a joey on board in her convenient little pouch. These marsupials - what an ingenious design! She very obligingly allowed us to take several photos before bounding into the surrounding bush. I wonder how much the Tasmanian Tourist Board pays these critters to welcome the tourists. There were two additional little two greeters up at the parking area posing for new arrivals to the reception area.

The fairly challenging grade 4 hike took three hours there and back, I was surprised we took only half an hour and lots of sweat to ascend the steepest part. Then we limped up to Cape Tourville Lighthouse for  distant views of the same bay and the area where the Tasman Sea meets the Southern Ocean, followed by a final stop in the car at Sleepy Bay and a hike down to the cove to look at rock pools. This is an area for divers, but we didn’t see any though it was fairly calm and clear.

Tonight we’ve booked another penguin tour because our gracious hosts at Sheoaks B & B assure us we’ll see the penguin rush hour, unlike on Kangaroo Island where we saw a lone commuter or three.  We ate all our meals with our hosts because they offered an alluring Celebration Package on their website. We liked the idea of being pampered after several consecutive days of self-catering, and though we are not celebrating anything other than this great three month trip, we decided to go for it. After a champagne dinner, Duncan drove up the road carefully with me acting as a spotter avoiding the wallabies to find the penguin bus.

Bicheno Penguin Rush Hour

Well let me tell you, tonight was my night! We saw about 100 penguins who reminded me of the commuters coming out of the TTC at 5 p.m. I could just picture them carrying little briefcases. They hustled up the beach in groups of 15 or 20 and weren’t bothered by the guide’s flashlight at all. Apparently the fellows at Bicheno Penguin Tours have spent 20 years clearing the rookery of feral cats and local dogs, building ramps and walkways and even encouraging the local school children to build little shelters for the males too lazy to build their own burrows. These fellows ensure that tourists visit in small well behaved supervised groups. They lead tours every night except for three in the year. I assume they take a break at Christmas time. The penguins are so used to them, they don’t have to use red lights, and two families even allow them to open their wooden box burrows so that we giants can gather round and gawk at the cozy family groupings of mum, dad and two little gray fuzzy chicks.  There were three major groups of penguins returning to different areas, one after the other as if on cue. I was in heaven out here and the hour flew by. There is a short film on their website and the guys will send us photos as they don’t allow us to take them. The penguins draw the line at flash cameras stunning them during viewing. Our guide commented that penguins' entire life is centred around finding food. I shifted uncomfortably and couldn't help but wonder if I was a fairy penguin in a previous life!

On the way home we drove at the recommended Dusk to Dawn 65 kilometres per hour to avoid creating even more road kill. We saw a mother possum with a baby on her back, a Tasmanian Devil sitting immobile at the roadside – and that is rare let me tell you – because of a facial cancer the population is 10% of what it was – and two wallabies. No wombats though, we’ve decided that if you want to see wildlife, head out in your car at night, but it is a bit harrowing keeping an eye out to avoid killing or maiming these creatures. Wow, maybe tomorrow will bring the wombat and a platypus. Who knows?

Margaret of Sheoaks had nothing but praise for the two organizers. They are locals who returned to Bicheno and were shocked to find the penguin flock so diminished. They leased the land containing the rookery and established their business including local school children who become passionate about the penguins, building them stone burrows and plastering the village with posters if a local dog kills any of the penguins. Margaret said the children do a great job “persuading” locals to keep their dogs in at night. Hooray for the little penguins, that’s what I say!
Click below to view map:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Coles+Bay,+Tasmania,+Australia&hl=en&ll=-42.122673,148.293457&spn=3.365531,7.064209&sll=-43.068888,147.348633&sspn=1.657391,3.532104&vpsrc=6&hnear=Coles+Bay+Tasmania,+Australia&t=m&z=7